My 2024 Travel and Blogging Year In Review
This post has become an annual tradition for me, and I love doing it as a personal record of my travels for the year. 2023 marked 10 years of blogging for me and I wrote about the highlights from my decade in blogging here.
2024 was a mixed bag in terms of travel. There were highlights and there were disappointments. I achieved a personal travel milestone by visiting my 50th country before the age of 50 (with a few years to spare), but I was also denied entry into a country for the first time ever.
In January, we visited the stunning Kingfisher Villa in Mabula Game Reserve where we had some great wildlife sightings. A video I took of a lion sighting there notched up over 58 000 views on YouTube.
Le Meridien Ile Maurice
In February I gave away a 2-night getaway at any Premier Hotel countrywide to one lucky follower.
I received an invitation to join journalists from around the world on a cruise from Mauritius to Cape Town with Norwegian Cruise Line towards the end of February and beginning of March. It was my fourth cruise.
We spent a few delightful days in Mauritius at Le Meridien Ile Maurice, before embarking on the cruise. The ship stopped at Reunion, Richards Bay (from where we visited Isimangaliso Wetland Park,), Port Elizabeth / Gqeberha, and Mossel Bay, eventually docking in Cape Town. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stop at Madagascar, one of the originally scheduled stops, which I had been looking forward to.
While in Cape Town, we stayed at the swanky Pullman Hotel and visited Stellenbosch and Cape Point on day trips.
Norwegian Dawn
In May, I was invited to join Intrepid Travel on a tour of Soweto. Although I had been on a tour there before, this one was a bit different and we saw Soweto with fresh eyes.
June arrived and we spent a relaxing weekend with our extended family at Zaariah Estate in the Magaliesberg countryside.
In September, we travelled to the South Caucasus, intending to visit Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. In Azerbaijan, my 50th country, we explored Baku, Sheki and Ganja, and experienced some scams too.
Then, at the land border crossing into Georgia, we were denied entry by the officials for no reason. It was the first time that we had been denied entry into any country, and it was disheartening.
This also meant that we couldn’t visit Armenia either, as it is not possible to cross directly from Azerbaijan into Armenia due to political feuds between the countries. We had to re-enter Azerbaijan and make our way back to Baku.
Baku, Azerbaijan
A week after our return, we visited the exclusive Last Word Madikwe, in one of our favourite game reserves near Johannesburg, Madikwe Game Reserve. Our family stayed in their exquisite new private villa which overlooked a waterhole that attracted abundant wildlife.
I was invited to several restaurants, theatre productions and other functions during the year. One of them was the relaunch of Pigalle by Villamoura in Sandton, which I attended in October.
I received another invitation to visit a newly renovated hotel in KwaZulu-Natal, which I accepted in November. During this trip, we stayed at The Blue Marlin All-Inclusive Seascape, the iconic Oyster Box Hotel, and Radisson Blu Umhlanga (review coming soon). En route, we also explored the Drakensberg, where we spent time at aha Alpine Heath Resort and Inkunzi Cave (review coming soon).
In between travelling, I did a lot of writing. I was published in the Sunday Times newspaper, Inbound South Africa magazine, Fastjet’s Places magazine, The Lost Executive (a UK magazine) and IOL Travel. My photos were published in the Sowetan, TimesLive and a few other publications.
The Oyster Box Hotel
And that was my 2024 travel and blogging year in review.
Wishing you a wonderful 2025, filled with many happy moments and lots of travel.
See my 2023 year in review.
See my 2022 year in review.
See my 2021 year in review.
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Sara Essop is a travel blogger and writer based in South Africa. She writes about family travel and experiences around the world. Although she has been to 50 countries thus far, she especially loves showcasing her beautiful country and is a certified South Africa Specialist.
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